A preliminary study of medial temporal lobe function in youths with a history of caregiver deprivation and emotional neglect

Abstract

Previous research findings have linked caregiver deprivation and emotional neglect with sensitivity to threatening cues. The present preliminary study investigated whether dysfunctions of the medial temporal lobe could underlie these associations. Using fMRI, we measured medial temporal lobe responses to emotional faces (angry, fearful, happy, neutral) among 30 youths. Eleven of the youths had a history of caregiver deprivation and emotional neglect. Attention states (i.e., attention to anger, fear, or physical attributes, or passive viewing) were systematically manipulated. Relative to comparison youths, youths with a history of caregiver deprivation and emotional neglect showed significantly greater left amygdala and left anterior hippocampus activation during the processing of threatening information. To our knowledge, these findings are the first to demonstrate altered medial temporal lobe function during the processing of threat cues in youths with a history of caregiver deprivation and emotional neglect.

Figures

Figure 1

Mean reaction times (RTs) for youths with a history of caregiver deprivation and emotional neglect (N = 11) and comparison youths (N = 19), according to face emotion. *p < .05.

Figure 2

(A) Left amygdala activation among youths with a history of caregiver deprivation and emotional neglect (N = 11) and comparison youths (N = 19) in the contrast fearful versus neutral faces in the afraid attention state. (B) Mean BOLD signal changes extracted at the identified peak voxel during the viewing of fearful faces versus neutral faces (across all attention states). *p = .039.

Figure 3

(A) Left anterior hippocampus activation among youths with a history of caregiver deprivation and emotional neglect (N = 11) and comparison youths (N = 19) in the contrast fearful versus neutral faces in the afraid attention state. (B) Mean BOLD signal changes extracted at the identified peak voxel during the viewing of fearful faces versus neutral faces (across all attention states). *p = .042.

Figure 4

(A) Left amygdala activation among youths with a history of caregiver deprivation and emotional neglect (N = 11) and comparison youths (N = 19) in the contrast angry versus neutral faces in the afraid attention state. (B) Mean BOLD signal changes extracted at the identified peak voxel during the viewing of fearful faces versus neutral faces (across all attention states). *p = .05.

Figure 5

(A) Left amygdala activation among youths with a history of caregiver deprivation and emotional neglect after removing the 2 participants with an anxiety disorder (n = 9), and comparison youths (N = 19), in the contrast angry versus neutral faces in the afraid attention state. (B) Mean BOLD signal changes extracted at the identified peak voxel during the “How afraid are you?” attention state. *p < .05.